


All I Want is You

by politics_and_prose



Series: All That Heaven Will Allow [8]
Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-26 19:42:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17147924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/politics_and_prose/pseuds/politics_and_prose
Summary: David meets with Joe and then has a date night with Katherine.





	All I Want is You

It was no secret that David considered himself to be a great planner. It was also no secret that the universe disagreed with him. 

His first step was getting in to see Joe. He wasn’t quite sure what his girlfriend’s father did at The World anymore, but he went every single day and kept himself busy. David assumed that he sat in on meetings, despite not being able to hear ninety percent of what was going on. Thank goodness he’d passed the company down to his sons already or David would worry the Pulitzers were being taken advantage of.

“He’ll be with you soon, Mr. Jacobs,” Hannah told him as she glanced up at him from above her eyeglasses.

“Thank you,” he said, his knee bouncing nervously. “And please, call me David.”

The redhead gave him a smile and went back to her typing.

Another ten or fifteen minutes passed before Hannah’s phone rang and she picked up, pulling it away from her ear quickly when Joe shouted into it that he was ready to receive David.

Apparently it wasn’t a good hearing day for his girlfriend’s father.

“Go ahead in, David. He’s ready for you, as I’m sure you heard.”

David chuckled and thanked her before tugging on his suit jacket to straighten it and hopefully remove any wrinkles. He took a deep, calming breath and then pushed open the door to Joe’s office.

“David, come in, come in,” Joseph Pulitzer boomed from behind his desk. “I was pleasantly surprised to see you on my schedule for today. Did you come straight from work?”

“Yes, sir,” David agreed as he walked to his girlfriend’s father and shook his hand. Joe motioned for him to take a seat and he did, grateful for the offer since he was starting to get nervous and he didn’t want to embarrass himself by having his legs give out on him.

“Is your class to your liking this year?”

David cleared his throat, a little off guard from the small talk. “For the most part. I have a couple of children who can’t seem to sit still but I got used to that with my little brother,” David replied with a chuckle. “Most are very anxious to learn. It’s nice to see.”

Joe nodded, but David wasn’t entirely sure how much he’d heard. Joe’s hearing was rapidly deteriorating, though the older man wouldn’t admit it. Jack had once joked that it was probably for the best, since David rambled when he got nervous. 

Hopefully that didn’t happen today. 

“So, David, I’m sure you didn’t come here to chat with me about your class. What can I do for you?” 

“I, uh, actually came to talk to you about Katherine. About my relationship with Katherine,” he answered. When Joe nodded, David took that as an indication for him to go on.

“As you know, I’ve been seeing your daughter for over a year and I’m very much in love with her.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a box. “I’m going to ask her to marry me and I’d like your blessing. I already bought a ring.”

Joe stared at him for a minute, then looked down at the box. “What’s that?” he asked, pointing at it.

Frowning, David lifted the lid. “I know it’s not much, but I …”

“You’re asking my permission to marry Katherine?” David winced at the volume of Joe’s voice. It became obvious then that Joe hadn’t heard a word he’d said. Which meant he would have to say it all again.

David sat on the edge of his seat, leaning in and raising his voice. “I’m asking for your blessing,” he said, “to ask Katherine to marry me.” His voice sounded loud to his own ears and he was pretty sure he heard a squeal from the other side of the door, but he kept his focus on Joe. “I love her and I want to ask her to be my wife.” 

“And you want my blessing, not my permission,” Joe concluded.

David’s stomach clenched and he felt like he might throw up, but he pushed that feeling away and nodded. “Yes, sir. The – uh – the only permission I’m going to be requesting is Katherine’s.”

Joe stared at him for what felt like an hour. His eyes were focused and clearer than David had seen in quite some time. It felt like Joe was looking right into his soul or something and it made David want to fidget in his seat. He stayed still, though, returning Joe’s gaze as steadily as he could.

Finally, Joe stood and walked around the desk. David stood as well when the man reached him. “You’re not asking for my permission,” Joe said, “so I will give you my blessing.” He extended his hand and David took it quickly, hoping his wasn’t shaking too badly as they shook hands.

“Thank you, Mr. Pulitzer,” David said, relieved. “It means a lot to me.” He thought it would probably mean a lot to Katherine as well, even if she would never admit it.

“Be sure to come by the house after,” Joe requested, though there was no question in his voice. “I’m sure Kate will want to celebrate with dinner.”

“Of course,” David agreed. “I’ll let you get back to work.”

Joe shook his hand once more and then returned to his work. David picked the ring back up and put it in his pocket, glad Joe didn’t comment on the size of it. He wondered idly if Joe Pulitzer was finally accepting that his little girl wasn’t going to marry into society and was okay with it.

With one last goodbye to his hopefully-future-father-in-law, David exited Joe’s office and came face to face with Miss Hannah, whose hands were clasped together and held over her heart.

“Oh, David,” she cooed, moving to him and pulling him into a hug. “I’m so happy for you.”

He chuckled and gave her a short hug back. “Thank you. Now just keep your fingers crossed she says yes.”

“Well if she doesn’t,” Miss Hannah said, “I will.”

Chuckling but not entirely sure she was joking, David nodded. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

\-- 

After his conversation with Jack, David knew he needed to work up the courage and actually ask Katherine. Since his too-smart-for-her-own-good girlfriend had puzzled out that he was going to propose, he had to get to it sooner rather than later; he definitely didn’t want her to think he chickened out or changed his mind.

All he needed was a night with just the two of them and a plan.

The thing was, his plans never worked out the way he wanted them to and this was one thing that absolutely needed to go right. As much as it made him nervous, he figured he would have to just wing it when he was with Katherine for their next date night.

It was the Friday after his meeting with Joe and he had made reservations at a restaurant that they both enjoyed. He’d considered asking her while they were eating but dismissed that idea pretty quickly. David wanted this to be just for the two of them. Honestly, he wished that they could go to her apartment or his, but he knew Jack was home tonight and he didn’t want to risk Sarah being at Katherine’s.

“Honey, are you okay?”

David’s attention snapped over to Katherine and he plastered a smile on his face. “Yes, of course. Sorry. Just got a little lost in my head.”

“Care to give me an exclusive into the mind of David Jacobs?” she asked with a patient grin.

He wet his lips and his smile changed to be a little more genuine. “Soon,” he promised. “I wouldn’t tell anyone else this story before you.” _For the most part_ , he amended in his mind, since Jack had gone with him to buy the ring and he’d requested her father’s blessing.

Katherine arched a brow but nodded. “That’s fair. How was your week?”

Their small talk was mostly idle, not touching on anything too personal. People knew who she was, and sometimes there would be someone who recognized or remembered him from the strike, so they tried to keep a low profile whenever they went out. It wasn’t typical for them to be approached but it’s happened in the past and David wanted to avoid it tonight.

Once dinner and dessert were done, David settled the bill and helped Katherine into her jacket. “Care to take a walk to work off dinner?” David asked.

Linking her arm through his, Katherine nodded. “That sounds wonderful. Anywhere in particular you’re thinking?”

“It’s a little too far to walk up to Central Park tonight, but I thought maybe somewhere less …” A trolley driver shouted a colorful word at a pedestrian and David winced, “crowded.”

Katherine laughed and nodded. “Let’s see where our feet take us.”

David liked that plan so he agreed, placing his hand over hers as they walked down the street together. It was a pretty quiet night when they got further from the restaurant, for the most part, and he was glad for that. He could get the urge – or give in to the urge – to propose at any time.

Walking the streets of Lower Manhattan was basically muscle memory for David at that point. He’d been there his whole life, aside from when he was in college, and he knew he could probably walk every street and alley in the area without once looking at where he was.

Something tugged at his gut and he stopped, gently stopping Katherine as well. She looked up at him, her eyes bright and a smile on her face. _Damnit, Jack_ , he cursed internally, but smiled outwardly because of how happy his girlfriend looked.

“Everything okay?” Katherine asked and her smile was so wide he couldn’t help but laugh. At least he knew that so long as he didn’t screw this up somehow, she would say yes.

“Yeah,” he said a little breathlessly. “I just … love you.”

“I love you too,” she told him, her eyes serious but her smile just as bright.

David took a deep breath before leaning in to kiss her. It was slow but deep, his stomach twisting with something he wouldn’t name, but also a little bit of nervousness. He knew he shouldn’t be but he couldn’t help himself. He was only ever going to ask one woman to marry him and it was Katherine. He wanted it to be perfect. 

Slowly, he pulled back from the kiss and smiled, taking her hands in his as he sank down to one knee. 

“Katherine,” he began, his voice shaking a bit. “I love you.” She gave him an encouraging smile but stayed quiet, which he was grateful for. He needed to get all of this out and he didn’t want to lose his train of thought. “I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you; I’m not even sure I knew I _could_ love someone this much. You are … you’re incredible. Strong, smart, kind and beautiful. I don’t know how I got so lucky to be able to be with you. Maybe it was fate, you wearing that dress and showing up at the restaurant earlier than me the day of our first date. Whatever it was, I thank God for it every day. I thank Him for _you_ , every day.”

David swallowed and inhaled before dropping her hands and reaching into his jacket pocket. He looked up to see her covering her mouth with her hands, but he was positive she was still smiling. With shaking hands, David opened the box to show her the ring. “I love you so much,” he breathed. “Will you marry me?”

Katherine nodded so quickly her curls blurred in his vision, before she dropped down onto her knees in front of him. “Yes!” she said, still nodding. “Yes, of course.”

Smiling widely, David removed the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger. He laughed, unable to keep the happy noise in, and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in for a quick kiss and then a tight hug. He kept his arms around her as they stood, breathing in her scent and allowing his heart to slow down. “I love you,” he said quietly. “Thank you.” 

This time, Katherine laughed and pulled back. “What did you thank me for? And oh! I love you too. Of course I do.”

David kissed her quickly and shrugged. “I guess I was thanking you for saying yes,” he replied, chuckling a little himself. “I don’t know, I didn’t really think about what came next after I asked. And you said yes,” he added.

Katherine put her hands on his cheeks and drew him in for another kiss, this time longer. David’s hands moved to her hips and then the small of her back and he had to fight the urge to press her against the brick building they were just a few feet from. He didn’t want to be inappropriate and ruin their night.

The kiss lingered until they heard a thickly accented voice call out, “Hey, you kids, move along. This isn’t the place for that business.”

David pulled back, cheeks warming quickly, before he laughed when he saw Jacobi waving his towel at them from the alley entrance to his restaurant. “Sorry, Mr. Jacobi,” he called out. “Won’t happen again.”

He took Katherine by the hand and the two of them quickly walked away from the restaurant they spent so much time in. Thank goodness it was likely too dark for Jacobi to tell who they were. “I cannot believe I asked you to marry me at Jacobi’s,” David chuckled.

Katherine chuckled too. “I don’t know, I think it was kind of the perfect place. It’s where this all began … even if we didn’t know it at the time.”

David leaned in and kissed her once more. “Maybe we’ll just have to hold the wedding reception here too,” he grinned.

Katherine threw her head back and laughed and David’s heart pounded as he realized that this brilliant, beautiful, brave woman was going to be his wife.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!


End file.
